Wedding Wagers(51)

     



 

Too late he realized this was probably not how this process was done.  Lady Montgomery's eyes had gone wide, and her mouth pinched so severely  Eli wondered if perhaps it might become stuck that way. Lady Grayson hid  her face behind her hand, in a poor attempt at hiding a fit of giggles.

"Thank you," Emily said. "That was very thoughtful. I had not expected a ring."

No doubt she did not expect much at all of their marriage, save for a  way to escape the gossips, the earl, and her father's wrath. Eli could  not fault her for this. This union     was the fulfilling of his wildest  dream, not hers. But he could not let himself worry that he would  disappoint either Emily or her parents. He had a few surprises-for all  of them.

"Until Saturday next." He bowed slightly, first at Emily and then her mother and sister.

"Thank you," Emily said once more. Their gazes touched briefly before he  turned away, and the look of vulnerability in hers was such that he  wished he could whisk her away this very moment, or at the least  convince her that all would be well.

Emily Montgomery and the baron and his family would not be the source of  fevered gossip in the months to come. Or, if they were, it would be  with a sense of wonder at the baron's cleverness in marrying his  youngest daughter off as he had. It was with great difficulty that Eli  held his tongue.





"Are you still terribly angry with me, Em?" Sophia adjusted the circlet  of flowers on Emily's head. "You've hardly spoken a word to me the past  two weeks."

"Not angry, but I am hurt-that you would so completely disregard my feelings in your quest to steal the earl from me."

"One cannot steal from someone who does not have." Sophia rose up on her  tiptoes, adjusting the fragrant petals this way and that. "You, my dear  sister, never had Lord Rowley-at least, not in the way that matters."

Emily sighed and looked at both their reflections in the long mirror.  She ought to be further hurt by such a statement, but there was truth in  it, and she could not feel bad about her loss. The earl had not loved  her and she had not loved him. Likely, Sophia had just saved them both  from a lifetime of misery.

Sophia met her eye in the glass. She nodded slowly. "I see you have come to the same conclusion."

"If only you had asked me if you might have him," Emily said. "I would  have given him willingly. What hurts is that you went about it behind my  back. And now look what has become of me."

"What has become of you!" Sophia exclaimed. Grasping Emily's shoulders,  she turned her around so they were facing one another. "You are about to  be married to a man who adores you, who will worship the ground you  tread upon all your days. He will make you happy, Em. Just wait and  see."

"But Father and Mother are both so terribly unhappy with my choice."

"Bah." Sophia swatted the air. "Who cares what they think. We are grown women now and must make our own decisions."

It was a terribly forward way of thinking, but then Sophia had always  been terribly forward. Emily admired that about her, wished for at least  some of that bravery herself. Perhaps she had found the one shred she  possessed, that night in the stables when she had declared she would wed  Mr. Linfield.

"Do you love Lord Rowley, then, and does he love you?" Emily asked.  Though she'd not voiced her concerns, she was fearful for Sophia. The  earl had not procured the license as promised. Yesterday, the day they  were to wed, had come and gone, with no sign of him.

"I don't know that love is the way of things between us as yet, but I've  no doubt it will come." Sophia did not sound concerned in the least.  "We have a jolly good time together. He makes me laugh, and I amuse him,  and that is far more than I had with my first husband."

"Do you think-will he return with your license today, or will banns be posted?"

"I received word late last night that he was home." Sophia's dreamy sigh  turned to one of resignation. "He will have the license now. I had to  give him the money for it. Alas, he is somewhat cleaned out at present."  She smiled suddenly. "But not for long. My inheritance was generous,  and I am happy to share it with him."

"It will be more than sharing, if you wed," Emily said soberly. "It will be his."

Sophia shrugged, then smiled coyly-a gesture Emily knew all too well.

"What are you up to, sister?"

"Up to?" Sophia's brows rose as if surprised, while her wide eyes and parted lips portrayed a near-convincing look of innocence.         

     



 

Emily wondered how long it would be before the earl could decipher such looks. "Well?"

"I am up to nothing," Sophia insisted. "My fortune, however, has  recently been up and away, disbursed in various locations, so that the  earl's acquisitions upon our marriage are not the entirety of my monies.  I am well aware of his gambling habits, and until I've cured him of  them-have provided other amusements to occupy his time and attention and  am assured they will continue to do so-he shall have no idea of the  true wealth he has married into."

Emily frowned. "That sounds a dangerous game. Men are so particular about money."

"Most men, you mean." Sophia turned away with a swish of skirts. "Your  Mr. Linfield does not seem to value it overmuch. I thought I should die  of laughter at Mother's look of horror when we saw him hold your bare  hand and wrap that bit of string around your finger."

"How else was he to measure for a ring?" Emily asked, indignant on Eli's  behalf. She had found it a sweet gesture. "That he thought of a ring at  all, after the money he had to spend for the license … " Her voice  trailed off as the secret worry she'd harbored the past week returned.  In spite of Eli's promise that he could provide for her, she felt  misgivings, knowing nothing of where or how they would live.

"Do not be surprised or dismayed if the one he gives you today is little  better than the string-pinchbeck at best." Sophia paused in front of  the dressing table to check her reflection. "He does love you, Em. I can  see it in his eyes. But all love comes at a cost. Yours is giving up  this." She swept her hand across the room, indicating the grandeur they  had grown up in.

"You might have thought of that before your dalliance." Emily twisted her hands in agitation.

"Don't muss your gown." Sophia pulled Emily's hands away from the layers  of satin stitching. "You do realize I did not intend to involve you in  my affairs that night-other than to free you from a betrothal you didn't  want in the first place?" Sophia held up a hand when Emily would have  spoken. "When I passed by your door earlier that night I heard you,  crying your heart out. And don't tell me it was with concern for your  horse. You were weeping with dread over your impending marriage to the  earl. I set out to free us both from situations we did not wish. That  you happened to be at the stable was your own doing."

"You meant to be found out," Emily said, only now realizing the depth of her sister's deception and planning.

"I did." Sophia raised her chin, showing absolutely no regret. "I told  my maid when to check the stable and when to fetch Father, so he would  discover us. Only he discovered more than I had bargained for."

It was Emily's turn to sigh. Because of that night she was about to  pledge herself to a man for the rest of her life. She would be leaving  everything and everyone she knew. Except Eli. That thought was both  terrifying and hopeful.

Sophia grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. "It is time, sister. Do not make your bridegroom wait."

Emily allowed herself to be pulled from the room. The time for regrets or second guessing was over.





The groom would not look at her. Emily walked up the aisle on her  father's arm, conscious of the stares from those few persons seated in  the pews on either side, but even more conscious of the fact that her  intended stood stiffly at the front of the chapel-facing away from her.

She'd attended enough weddings in the past to recognize that this was  not a good sign. At her friends' weddings, the bridegrooms had always  stood facing the back of the church, or at least sideways, where they  might turn their heads to see the bride approaching.

Perhaps Mr. Linfield has never attended a wedding. Perhaps he does not realize …

If so, this would be only the first of many social faux pas he was  likely to commit. Her mother had feared it would be so and had tried  time and again to dissuade Emily from her decision. But Emily would not  budge. Her reputation in tatters, she must do what she could to salvage  it. She didn't care how many mistakes Mr. Linfield made or if he  embarrassed them all. He was kind and would be true to her, and at this  point that was all she might hope for from marriage.

As they reached the front of the church and Mr. Linfield's side, Emily  slid her hand from her father's arm. She leaned forward to kiss his  cheek and glimpsed the sorrow in his eyes. He had not wanted her to  marry this man, under these-or any other-circumstances. But he had not  forced her to wed the earl, and for that she felt grateful.